Cyber Monday Set to Break Online Sales Records After $9B Black Friday: Adobe

Cyber Monday was on track to become the highest online spending day ever, said Adobe Analytics in a Monday morning update, after Black Friday crushed previous sales records, soaring 22% to $9 billion at a spending rate of $6.3 million per minute.

The analytics firm modeled this year’s Cyber Monday sales at a historic range of $10.8 billion to $12.7 billion, up 15%-35% year on year. Cyber Monday was on course to "break all previous records for online sales," said Adobe Digital Insights Director Taylor Schreiner. He predicted consumers would take advantage of the most highly discounted items, including TVs, toys and computers, “before price levels start creeping back up throughout the rest of the season.” Adobe projected the 7-11 p.m. PST sales rush would bring in 29% of Cyber Monday revenue, at least $3.1 billion, and the peak 8-9 p.m. PST window would have a spending rate of at least $13 million per minute.

Black Friday was the second-largest e-commerce day in history, lagging behind only Cyber Monday 2019. Adobe had predicted $8.9 billion in receipts for the day (see 2011270006). Consumers spent $3.6 billion via smartphones, a 25% increase year on year, for 40% of total online spend. In-store and curbside pickup jumped 52% on Black Friday “as many consumers looked to avoid in-store shopping,” Adobe said.

Small Business Saturday set another record, netting $4.7 billion online, for 30% growth. On Black Friday, smaller retailers (under $1 billion in annual sales) had 545% higher sales vs. a comparable day in October, Adobe said; they had a 211% boost in sales during Thanksgiving week. An Adobe survey said 44% of consumers planned to support small and local retailers on Cyber Monday, and 38% said they would make an effort to shop smaller retailers throughout the holiday season.

Electronics had competition on Black Friday, said Schreiner: Shopping for new game consoles, smartphones, smart devices and TVs shared cart space with “unorthodox Black Friday purchases” such as groceries, clothes and alcohol, which “would previously have been purchased in-store.” Discounts over the weekend were deepest for toys (20%), computers (27%), electronics (25%) and televisions (19%). Top-selling electronics were Apple's AirPods and Watch, Amazon Echo smart speakers and Samsung TVs.

Yamaha, which has been plagued by shortages in higher-end AV receivers, shaved prices for a sale running through Jan. 3, but several products we checked weren’t available Cyber Monday. The company featured the RX-V385, an entry-level AV receiver, at $259, a $40 discount, but Yamaha was taking email addresses to “be the first to know when the RX-V385 is back in stock.” When we tried to add a $149 sound bar ($30 off) to a cart, we received a message saying the product isn’t available. A $599 turntable ($100 off) was in stock.

Target held flash, limited-time-only sales, a Cyber Monday first. Featured electronics Monday were Apple Watch Series 6 ($50 off) and Amazon, Ring and Facebook Portal smart home products with deals up to half off. Amazon and Samsung led tablets on sale. A two-day Target sale ended Monday for a $265 Element Roku TV.

Best Buy featured Apple products in a two-hour flash sale midday Monday: Apple AirPods with charging case dipped to $99, the iPhone SE was $100 off with activation, select HomePods were $50 off to $249, and customers could save $145 off Beats by Dr. Dre wireless noise-canceling headphones.

At checkout, Best Buy advised customers of possible shipping delays, a situation shippers and retailers have warned about this fall. “Most orders arrive on time,” said the website, but “due to increased shipping volume, some orders are arriving later than our estimates.” ABI Research warned in October of a lack of qualified commercial truck drivers as the market recovers from COVID-19 (see 2010210053), after more than 88,000 drivers were furloughed in April. Adobe expects Dec. 11 to be the last day for cheaper delivery, with shipping prices increasing after that by up to 14.6%.

Consumers spent over $2 billion on 24 of 27 days in November and over $3 billion on seven days, compared with only three $3 billion-plus days at the same point last year: “We are seeing strong growth as consumers continue to move shopping from offline to online this year,” said Adobe's Schreiner.

Walmart highlighted its efforts to “adapt quickly to meet the evolving needs of our customers” in a Friday blog post. Its priorities were customers' safety and meeting them “where they are shopping more often -- online.” Millions shopped Walmart’s Black Friday events, staggered over November, it said. Popular electronics were wireless headphones and Walmart’s private-label Onn brand TVs with “jaw-dropping prices,” led by a $228 65-inch Roku TV.

Shopify, an e-commerce platform provider for more than 1 million global businesses, reported a 75% increase in sales Friday vs. Black Friday 2019. By 8 a.m. EST, Shopify merchants recorded more than $1 billion in sales. New York, London and Los Angeles were the top-selling cities worldwide on Black Friday, while the U.S., U.K. and Canada were the leading countries. Mobile-led sales made up 67% of online orders, slightly lower than the 69% last year, it said.

Adobe reported that Thanksgiving sales were below forecast but soared past 2019 sales at $5.1 billion. Total holiday weekend spend was $23.5 billion, up 23% year on year, it said.